Car Allowance

[Moby-Dick]

I'm looking at switching a car allowance as part of my salary - as far as I can tell they dont have a lease company with them , so looking at what my options would be.

Its a £500/month allowance but I need to pay for everything out of that ( inc tax / insurance etc. )
it has to be of a reasonable size - guessing something like a focus would be the smallest.

It also has to be (initially) less than 2 years old.

I'm quite taken with some of the new skodas - went for a test drive in a superb estate , which was quite impressive.

Can you lease nearly new cars ? ie get a 2008 plate one ? I suspect a 24 month lease is probably going to be the sensible option as it will keep my costs pretty fixed...

So which brings me to my next question , what to get

Its possibly an opportunity to get the "owning an alfa" bit out of my system as well.

I'm not fussed about CO2 , especially on a lease where they are paying the tax as the allowance is subject to regular tax etc so I dont have any Benefit in kind to pay.

Any other Hexites on a car allowance rather than a "company car" - what did you guys do ?

[Salazaar]

I get an allowance but the scheme we're on is somewhat more restrictive.

I was limited to a car with CO2 emissions within 10% of the benchmark set for my grade (92g/kg for the 2010 Seat Ibiza Ecomotive) which restricted my choice significantly. We could choose to go with the preferred provider but I opted out and bought from a dealership because I found a rather good deal.

While I was looking in to it there seemed to be no problem in leasing a nearly new car, there are plenty of companies who specialise in this.

If you're thinking of an Alfa check if they'll do a maintenance plan, it didn't work out as good value for me but that may be different for you...

[DanceswithUnix]

Not had a car allowance for years, and when I did I basically bought a second hand Alfa 166 on the mortgage and used the allowance to pay for it

I guess you need to phone around to find what people can do for you.

Modern Alfas are holding their values rather well which helps. From a quick google it looks like a Giulietta is on par with a Focus for lease cost. No idea what those prices include, but I am just expecting them to be like for like contracts and the Alfa is only a smidgen more expensive:

http://www.nationwidevehiclecontract...ta-leasing.htm
http://www.nationwidevehiclecontract...or-leasing.htm



those Alfa turbo petrol engines have stupid economy for the power output, that is on par with the diesel 159 I had briefly as a courtesy car.

Will you be doing a big milage?

[Moby-Dick]

Milage wise I'm really not sure at the moment. Hopefully its not going to be astronomical , but you never know!

[Barakka]

Milage wise I'm really not sure at the moment. Hopefully its not going to be astronomical , but you never know!

This can make a difference as I know when I was on car allowance you got petrol expenses at the company car rate (10p/mile) rather than the private car rate (40p/mile)...

I had no restrictions on the allowance so I bought my 6 year old celica, did think about an Alfa GT but too many possible issues - like not 100% watertight and the brake lines fitted too tight causing rusting (think that was the GT) - damn Italians

[Moby-Dick]

Now that but I know - as I'm on an allowance I get milage at 20p/mile. However this means I certanily can't run the stagea as a company car ( even if I was allowed the age ) as at last calculation It did 13 mpg

[SteveL]

I have a car allowance from work of 6K per year, so it's a similar amount to yours. After looking into leasing, I decided to buy my own car. The only restrictions were that it has to have 4 seats and be less than 6 years old. I took out a bank loan over 3 years and the re-payments were around the same as the car allowance, per month.

I was looking into nearly new cars, but finally bought a new car. I figured out that the extra cost was worth it, as 3 years into ownership the car was paid off, so I then got another 3 years car allowance which went into savings, as I can only have a car up to 6 years old.

If you're interested, I bought my car from www.nccsales.co.uk. I've had two more cars from them since and the whole process is so much more painless than trying to negotiate in a showroom. Current one is a Renault Grand Scenic for £13.5K, list price was somewhere near £19k. If you can get a new car for somewhere close to the cost of a 1 or 2 year old car, it might be worth looking at that, depending on the conditions of your car allowance scheme. Certainly made sense for me.

Steve

[Guy]

If your going to be doing mega miles, dont go down the leasing route!

Leases only seem to go up to 30k a year, after that and you WILL be stung with very heavy ppm charges at the end of the contract.

My 335 is done through an HP scheme, meaning no mileage cap/restriction. Also once you are over 50% of the contract length, you can terminate said contract, and hand the car back, with nothing extra to pay. (Obviously the car has to be in the same condition that you recieved it in) By doing so I found I am not tied down to any mileage restrictions, and I had a much bigger choice of cars, basically anything from the dealership.

Best place if you do want to look for leasing is here: http://www.lingscars.com/

Its an *interesting* site, but can be some very good deals, and Lings customer service is second to none.

[Moby-Dick]

how long is the contract guy ? - lings site seems interesting you went directly to a BMW dealership then ?

[Guy]

how long is the contract guy ?

I did mine over 48 months, to bring the monthly cost down. Seeing as after 50% I will be handing it back, in reality it only works out as a 24 month contract. I believe I could have had anywhere from a 12-60 month contract.

[Moby-Dick]

cunning - I like that was there a deposit etc ?

[Guy]

cunning - I like that was there a deposit etc ?

Yup, it opened up a whole new avenue of cars to choose from.

There was, but its up to you how much you put in. Obviously more deposit, lower monthly payments, but my advice would be put the lowest deposit they will let you down. Yeah higher monthly payments, but I didnt mind paying £20 or so more per month than having to shell out an additional £1k as deposit.

I think the minimum usually is 10% of the value of the car.

[Moby-Dick]

okey dokey , will have to have a think about that the idea is that I dont have to spend out a lump sum as I dont get the car allowance as a lump sum. will have to factor in that the car payments aretaxed as well so I dont actually have £500/month to spend on a car

[Guy]

Its definatly something worth considering.

Even if its just going round to a dealer, looking at what they have to offer, getting some idea of figures and walking away.

Remember that even with some lease deals they expect 3 monthly payments in advance, before you get the car, which some times can be the same amount as a deposit on a HP scheme.

[Zak33]

ring me

[Moby-Dick]

ah just the man